Wednesday, February 19, 2014

What's in a book????

That's our Guv on Republic Day 2014....

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This appeared in Sunday Times....

What’s in a
book? A lot!!

For starters : Am I offended by Wendy
Doniger’s book? Hell, no! Am I surprised by what happened this week? Naaaah! Is
it the end of the world? You must be joking. Do I think Hinduism is under
threat…or that Wendy set out to insult a great religion? Frankly, the answer is
‘no’ to both. Wendy Doniger is a professional scholar. This is her interpretation. She is entitled
to it. Those who find the book objectionable , need not read it. There are many
Wendys in the publishing space. They do what they have to – spend years
decoding , dissecting, analyzing material.
It is their chosen vocation. A lot of what is deconstructed is necessarily
subjective. After all, it is the effort of one academic searching for
explanations and answers. So be it. If you choose to read the material - and react – do it. Go ahead and write your own
book. Or,write to the scholar/author and refute the thesis. Hold a peaceful
meeting and state your perspective. There are ways and ways to respond –
passionately and spiritedly – without converting your views into an ugly,
self-defeating pitched battle. Which is precisely what has happened with
Doniger’s ‘The Hindus : An Alternative History’.

Now, let’s see it from the Publisher’s
point of view ( I have to state here that I am a Penguin author). But this
battle does not begin or end with Penguin Books and Wendy Doniger . Nor with
those who asked for the book to be withdrawn and pulped – the Shiksha Bachao
Andolan Samiti. The SBAS has been at it for years (remember how 75 paragraphs
were removed from several NCERT textbooks?). They will be at it for several
more. The thing is, this time their victory appeared easy. Was it really a ‘victory’?
And how easy was it? What about the Publisher? The rather facile argument is
that Penguin should not have buckled under pressure. That in ‘the old days’
Publishers were bold enough to stand by authors and books, regardless. Well,
it’s time to state the bald truth and say it like it is (sorry,
intellectuals!). Those old days are over. And the world of publishing has
changed. Knock off all the romantic notions surrounding the book business and
what do you get? A business under financial threat across the world. A business
trying to stay afloat in the face of competition coming at it from unexpected
directions and in entirely unknown forms (come on, who could have anticipated
e-books and free downloads?). Survival itself is at stake given these daunting
developments. Besides, let’s be candid, at the end of the day, publishing IS a
business. And every publisher in the universe is a ‘baniya publisher’ ( a term that has been thrown
around a lot these days). And hello! which publisher would actively back a book
that has a zero sales’ potential? Which
publisher is willing to lose money on a book? Which publisher wants a
book/author to get into trouble? Not one. Every book is a gamble. It is
published in good faith. Publishers don’t consciously court controversy. They
don’t enjoy facing criminal charges (as in this case). And they certainly don’t
like losing money! A great deal of it. If that makes them ‘baniya publishers’,
that’s okay. And yes, in today’s aggressive environment in which everything is
potentially a ‘product’ that has to be flogged in the marketplace, there really
isn’t that much of a difference left between selling a book and selling a bar
of soap. If that sounds awful, it is a reality one has to accept. Authors and
public intellectuals taking a lofty view of the publishing industry, should
climb down a few notches and smell the coffee. It is likely to get still worse
by the ‘old’ standards, as decisions whether or not to publish a book are taken
by marketing mavens crunching numbers and not visionary publishers willing to
back a tome they believe in. Yes, it’s that grim. Publishers with a book like
Wendy’s on their list, are particularly vulnerable. It is not about having
financial resources to fight it out in court. It is about asking basic ,
practical questions : is it worth it?

Wendy’s controversial book will do just
fine . More people will read it now that it has become a hot potato. The SBAS
will no doubt, look for other soft targets and gloat over this particular win.
The ‘scholar dollars’ won’t dry up. So, relax. Hinduism has survived worse .
And will continue to thrive - book or no book. Our various freedoms are
definitely under threat. Make no mistake about that. It’s just a question of
figuring out whose freedom scores in such wars. And whether there is something
called absolute freedom in the first place .A difficult decision needed to be
taken .And it was taken. It was not ‘fear’ alone ( despite the rumoured death
threats ) that dictated Penguin’s decision, I imagine. It was a question
of not hurting public sentiment. There
really are no winners here. Least of all the much loathed SBAS.

23 comments:

I really liked your take on the subject. Having said that I would not have known about this book or cared two hoots about it if it was not publicized as much.

Now since the book got so much publicity,. I am very sure I am more likely to find a cheaper copy in daryaganj market of their own duck publishers!

Hinduism as a religion is one of the highly tolerating religion which is quite humble and mature and take all such criticism with pinch of saffron. I guess little bit of sensibility about a religion in the way we approach it towards public dissection should be exercised however. Freedom of speech is fine but guess there are more burning issues than who did Mahatama gandhi slept with or how many Gopikas did Lord Krishna did Raas with.

Seems bashing Gods and beliefs is new fashion these days. If it is so, why not bash fanatics who issues fatwa for an actor cause he attended ganpati aarti. Come on world, lets be open minded and above all less biased.www.numerounity.com

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